The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October 17, to update the public and answer questions about the long-delayed overhaul of the Route 7-Merritt Parkway overhaul. In the works for two decades, the project was first halted by a lawsuit by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and later by the 2008 recession. less

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October ... more

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October 17, to update the public and answer questions about the long-delayed overhaul of the Route 7-Merritt Parkway overhaul. In the works for two decades, the project was first halted by a lawsuit by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and later by the 2008 recession. less

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October ... more

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October 17, to update the public and answer questions about the long-delayed overhaul of the Route 7-Merritt Parkway overhaul. In the works for two decades, the project was first halted by a lawsuit by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and later by the 2008 recession. less

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October ... more

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October 17, to update the public and answer questions about the long-delayed overhaul of the Route 7-Merritt Parkway overhaul. In the works for two decades, the project was first halted by a lawsuit by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and later by the 2008 recession. less

The Route 7/Main Avenue-Merritt Parkway interchange Thursday, October 12, 2017, in Norwalk, Conn. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will hold a public scoping meeting in Norwalk on Tuesday, October ... more

NORWALK — The Connecticut Department of Transportation will update the public on its plans to rebuild the Route 7-Merritt Parkway interchange during a meeting a Norwalk City Hall on Tuesday.

The reconfiguration project was delayed several years by a lawsuit, then the recession.

The Public Scoping and Informational Meeting is in the Norwalk City Hall Auditorium, 125 East Ave. An open forum for individual discussions with DOT officials will start 4 p.m., followed by formal presentations at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

“The meeting on Tuesday will focus on the Environmental Process as required by NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act),” said DOT spokesman Judd Everhart. “The Scoping Meeting is the first ‘official’ step in the process. We will also discuss purpose and need of the job, goals and objectives, various alternatives and most importantly how to get involved with the project and how to provide input.”

Construction is estimated to begin in 2012 and take at least a year, if not more, to complete, Everhart said.

Data collection done

The purpose of the project is to improve connections and mobility at Main Avenue and the Merritt Parkway as well as at the Route 7 Connector and Merritt Parkway. At present, motorists traveling west on the Merritt Parkway cannot exit to either the north- or southbound Route 7 Connector. Motorists driving either north or south on the connector cannot exit to the eastbound parkway.

The project remains in the planning phase. The DOT has held about 30 stakeholder meetings and formed a Project Advisory Committee comprised of various stakeholders. The committee has met three times.

“We have completed our data collection phase and are developing a Purpose and Need statement,” Everhart said. “Various alternatives have been developed for this project over the years. The two latest are Alt 21C and Alt 26. All alternatives are still on the table.”

Alternate 26, as the design is called, would add missing links, make the interchange fully directional and create three traffic lanes in each direction along the connector near the parkway. The design also would change the connector from a freeway to signalized boulevard by installing two traffic signals — one north and the other immediately south of the parkway.

The interchange overhaul project was halted first by a lawsuit and later by an economic recession.

Before the project halted in 2009 amid the recession, the DOT had arrived at Alternate 21C as its preferred design. The design, which emerged after numerous meetings with residents and other stakeholders, would rely upon ramps but not signals. The design would improve the existing connections and create the four missing connections between the parkway, Route 7 Connector and Main Avenue.

Conservancy at table

The Merritt Parkway Conservancy is among those at the table as part of the recent stakeholder meetings aimed at coming up with a design that’s acceptable to all.

“The conservancy is satisfied with the process that’s going on right now involving the different stakeholders and the presentations that have been given,” said Jill Smyth, executive director of the parkway conservancy, who plans to attend Tuesday evening. “Let’s just hope that people come and give their opinions.”

Mayor Harry Rilling said the DOT is looking to make many changes in the interchange area. He said the city is closely monitoring the plans as they unfold.

“Obviously, we’re very interested because of the impacts on Norwalk and we want to make sure that we get a plan that’s going to help move traffic safely and swiftly,” Rilling said. “We want to make sure our infrastructure is capable of handling the traffic load.”

The Route 7 Connector carries not only Norwalk motorists but also traffic from throughout Fairfield County, he noted.

Benefits, negatives

In January, the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners and Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations hosted a public information meeting on the project at City Hall. About two-dozen people attended.

“We’re not here singing Hosanna, we’ve finally found the answer,” said John Eberle, principal and project manager with Stantec, the consultant engineer hired by the DOT, while explaining Alternate 26. “There’s benefits to it, there’s negatives to it.”

In 2005, the parkway conservancy and other preservationist groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration and the DOT in an effort to get the state to downsize its original design, which the groups considered too large, too costly and destructive to the parkway. U.S. District Court in New Haven found that the Federal Highway Administration had not met its legal “obligation to ensure that all possible planning was done to minimize harm prior to approving the interchange project.”

Information about the revamped project can be found at http://7-15norwalk.com/. Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted by the DOT until the close of business on Nov. 16, 2017.